Happy Birthday, Pete
This is being posted late in the day, but let it be known that May 3, 2006, was the 87th anniversary of the birth of Pete Seeger. No one has done more to make this country something to be proud of than this man. And no one in public life has been more influential on my own life. Here is one of my favorites of the songs he has written, and an apt one on his birthday.
(He wrote this for Otto Preminger's movie Tell Me that you Love Me, Junie Moon, starring Liza Minnelli, not available on DVD, alas.)
Old Devil Time
Old devil time, I'm gonna fool you now,
Old devil time, you'd like to bring me down.
When I feel low, my lovers gather round,
And help me rise to fight you one more time.
Old devil pain, you've often pinned me down,
You thought I'd cry and beg you for the end.
At that very time my lovers gathered round,
And helped me rise to fight you one more time.
Old devil fear, you with your icy hands,
Old devil fear, you'd like to freeze me cold.
When I'm afraid, my lovers gather round,
And help me rise to fight you one more time.
Old devil hate, I knew you long ago,
Before I learned the poison in your breath.
Now when I hear your lies my lovers gather round,
And help me rise to fight you one more time.
No storm nor fire can ever beat us down,
No wind that blows but carries us further on.
And you who fear, oh lovers gather round,
And we will rise to sing it one more time.
3 comments:
Happy Birthday, Pete!
I love this man like a friend, like a father. My parents took me to his concerts when I was just a tyke; I can still hear him stomping on the stage in his big old boots bellowing "Obiyoyo, Obiyoyo!" He was one of our girls' top picks as a bed-time tape. Alana called him "Peach Seeger."
What a gifted, kind, warm, brave man he was. When he finally passes, I'm going to need some sort of memorial.
Thanks for this post, Paul.
Oops. ...brave man he is, not was. Shame on me.
I think I made that mistake because I've been anxious about his age, wondering how long we'll have him.
My partner pointed out to me the a week or two ago that the New Yorker magazine has a long article about Pete Seeger. Here are few things I can recall:
1. His father was a composer--classical music, I believe.
2. Bruce Springsteen has recorded a bunch of Pete Seeger songs as the "Seeger Sessions."
3. He built and installed bookcases above the baby's crib--and was awoken one night by a loud crash. Fortunately, the crib was sturdier than the bookcase.
Blessings,
Liz, The Good Raised Up
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